Residents of San Diego’s coastal community of La Jolla who were awaked by a 4.0 magnitude quake on Saturday morning got a further shock if they went to the beach — dozens of giant squid littering the beach.

“It's like their equilibrium is all messed up and they don't know what they're doing and they can't back out there,” Bill Baumann told the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Soon seagulls began swooping down to feed on the Humboldt squid, three to four feet in length and weighing nearly 40 pounds.

Some beachgoers tried to carry the slimy creatures back into the water, but the squid kept washing back to shore.

NOAA marine biologist John Hyde said that it was unlikely the squid were driven to the shore by the earthquake.

One likely cause is that the cephalopods chased small fish too close to shore, then became disoriented in the surf.

Picture: KNSD San Diego